That was some kind of end-game clinic, wasn't it?

Well, well, well.

Wasn’t that something.

I think maybe Springfield should call for the tape of those final 90 seconds for part of the Hall of Fame’s “How Not To Finish A Game” display.

Was quite something, wasn’t it? Not sure I can remember a confluence of events that went so wrong at exactly the worst possible moment.

Unreal.

Anyway, there are still 39 to go, wonder what kind of zaniness we’re still to see?

-

RICK MADONIK/TORONTO STAR

Plenty of good points from Parker lately.

Action: Bosh’s outburst

Reaction: Good for him.

You saw on TV Bosh rip Moon after the Johnson drive, I saw him yell at Roko on one earlier possession for not swinging the ball and a few of us listened him seethe in the locker room after the game.

And I’m all for it.

No, Bosh is not perfect, not even close, and he had a huge turnover – driving the ball, mind you and that’s got to ease the pain a wee bit from the people who’ve been murdering him for weeks – late in the game. But players need to hold each other accountable and he seems to be the only guy on this team willing to do that publicly.

And his coach is okay with it, too. So is his general manager.

-

Oh, I’m giving Jamario a pass today.

What’s the sense in piling on.

Yes, he should have forced Johnson left on that drive. Yes, he should have stayed on the floor on the Bibby pump fake. Yes, he should have passed the ball instead of taking that three.

I know it, you know it, his teammates know it, his coaches know it, his general manager knows it and, in his heart of hearts, he knows it.

He made three big gaffes at precisely the wrong time. He is what he is, a guy who probably wouldn’t be on the floor in that situation on a better team but on this team he plays. And he’s going to make mistakes.

-

Speaking of stand-up guys, this AP quote got lost amid all the post-game antics. It’s pretty good, and pretty telling:

“We just didn’t play smart. I think that has been the case for a while. I think if I had to do that all over again on that last possessions, maybe I would have pulled it out and run a play. We had numbers and we were pushing it and those had been the best opportunities we had all night. It was also a two-for-one situation where we would get the ball back, but I’m new at this point guard thing and it’s a learning thing.”

The Parker-as-point-guard experiment has worked pretty well the last two games and the final quarter of the Indy loss and now I expect it to be the same in Detroit tomorrow because I can’t imagine Jose playing.

But Friday, if Calderon’s back he should start and the question becomes: Can your starting two guard be your backup point guard, too?

I wonder. Not sure how Jay can work a rotation – and I presume Calderon won’t be in shape enough to handle his usual 38 or 39 minutes – that keeps Parker in his usual 2-guard job while letting him slide over to be the backup point.

But the coach should try because the team runs well when Parker’s at the helm.

That’s not to say no Roko at all; he should have a limited role, like eight or 10 minutes.

-

Here’s a question I have: When is it going to be Andrea’s turn? Down the stretch that is. To take the game-tying shot, or the big shot, or the most important shot of the game.

One of the things that’s been most impressive in his emergence has been his determination, at both ends of the floor.

I wonder how he’d handle that last-shot responsibility.

I guess the one worry is that he’s still not entirely adept at coming off screens and getting off a quick shot and I’m pretty sure his ball-handling skills need improvement to get him by defenders with ease.

But the next time they’re in one of those situations, I think they should run Bargnani off a couple of screens or put him in an isolation situation and see what happens. It’s not like they’ve got anything else that’s working perfectly.

-

An oft-asked question.

Q: Seriously Doug, when I watch this team this year, I simply cannot see anyone that I would feel comfortable to get "that one basket" in the crunch time. (Especially those game-tying or winning basket in dying seconds - may I say Chris Bosh). This raises the question whether Chris Bosh is a go-to-guy as opposed to a 23ppg player.

Yama F, Mississauga

A: My opinion’s well known but it's worth repeating.

Chris Bosh is an all-star, a very, very good player who can average more than 20 points and 10 rebounds a game and there are scant few who can do that in the NBA. He should be lauded for his skills and I don’t think it matters whether you call him a “superstar” or an “all-star” or a “franchise player.” Those are just words that mean nothing and if you want to argue about them, go ahead.

But to ask him to break his man down, create a shot and a game-winning basket is too much. It’s not his skill.

He gets the job because of failings on the roster, that’s the only reason. A quick, determined, good-shooting, hard-driving wing man does that, not a 6-11 power forward.

Bosh gets killed far too often for being given a job he’s not best suited for, a job he only gets because there’s no one else on the roster that can do it.

-

Action: Marion’s role

Reaction: A rental.

Now, I don’t know for sure whether Shawn Marion will ever be a Raptor, I’d say there’s a chance and since I don’t know how Pat Riley thinks I can’t even put a percentage on it, but I do know this: All the e-mailers who think he’s a bad fit because he’s not a “slasher” shouldn’t get too worked up.

What he will be more likely than not, if he gets here, is a short-term rental and not a long-term solution.

He’ll be looking for some kind of raise off his $17 million salary when he’s a free agent this summer and I cannot imagine the Raptors giving it to him. So if the O’Neal deal does go down, don’t worry about next year because I can’t see Marion being here then.

-

In Atlanta, once newspaper readers got past the blanket coverage of the inauguration, here’s what they found in the sports section this morning.

-

A question about brains:

Q: So I asked this before along with two uninformed questions, so this time I will ask it alone. PGA golfers who choke in the 3rd and 4th rounds of tournaments will often hire sports psychologists to help them overcome whatever ails them when it comes to pressure situations. Athletes in other sports do the same. Do NBA teams ever go through these types of sessions? It seems like the Raptors are prime candidates to go through some sessions with someone that can help get them overcome the challenges they face in the last 5 mins of games. Thoughts?

Greg S, Toronto

A: Yes, golfers use brain coaches. I presume tennis players do, too. And Olympic athletes do.

This will get me grief from psychologists all over, I presume, but I don’t think they work for players on team sports because so much is dependent on what other players do.

A sports psychologist is not going to convince Jamario Moon to pass the ball or not fall for shot fakes. A sports psychologist is not going to make Joey Graham concentrate more on defence when the game’s going a mile-a-minute.

And, no, I don’t know of any team that uses one on a regular basis.

-

Comments

[Alex]

Bosh should be publicly calling himself out (the opposite of his "I'm the MVP" garbage 5 games into the season). So Moon jacked up a 3 after a couple defensive lapses. Bosh is the king of last-second weak fadeaways or turnovers.

Not saying Moon should've taken the shot - the guy makes me cringe most nights - but before you start ragging on someone, take a look in the mirror. Not too many late-game heroics from Mr. Bosh this year, that I can recall at least.

You've said it before Doug and you're right, the team has no closer. Hopefully when Calderon gets 100% healthy his shot will come back, because he was the best finisher the Raps had last year.

[SY]

That 3 point play by Moon probably cost J.T. his job (I do not mean that B.C. is going to fire J.T. but just that it's a slight chance B.C. is going to re-sign J.T. during the offseason - having so few wins). Unfortunately, I can't say I feel sorry for him. I guess as a coach, you got to make some bold statement to your players sometimes. With Moon's atheletism, his main job should be to get to the rim and rebound - not to take at least 3 - 4 3-pt attempts per game. Bench him or not play him if you have to - it is not like Moon can help you win games singlehandedly.

Good thing that J.T. is playing Ukic more. If you think Ukic is going to be the backup PG of the future, might as well play him more over Solomon. Should start playing Nathan and see what he brings to the table.

Hope the O'Neal for Marion trade can go down soon. I really like O'Neal but given the steady progress of Bargnani, one of them has to go, and since there's a chance to pick up Marion's 17 million expiring contract - better do it sooner or later.

I think one of the reasons why Bargnani is playing well of late is because there's absolutely no pressure on the guy. There had been tremendous pressure on him ever since he was drafted, I think he is playing much more freely now. How can you not play freely, it is not like the team is going anywhere - Definitely good for his development.

-SY

[Anthony]

Doug,
I didn't know Gorden was eligible for the "Larry Bird exception", but I'm still not sure why this would prevent a trade? The below link states that he would NOT lose the exception, can you clarify? thanks !

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_Salary_Cap#Larry_Bird_exception

"...It also means that when a player is traded, his Bird rights are traded with him, and his new team can use the Bird exception to re-sign him..."

Blogger's note: I believe the easiest way to explain it is that a player on a one-year qualifying oiffer to agrees to a trade forfeits his Bird rights.

[Erc]

We agree. You MUST be right. Gotta have AP as the back-up point guard when Jose returns. What good is a regular, losing rotation?
It's kind of like the situation last year. Juan Dixon showed he wasn't a pg and Delfino showed he could be.
One reason they're finishing so lousy is Jose's absence. He's the best bet to either drive or make the clutch shot that they have. Can Marion help them finish games successfully?
If a trade is made and if they're is a bit of financial room to maneuver, I'd like to see a Voshkul-type perimeter player signed -- someone with an edge who can play defense, even if he has very limited offensive skills. You could use him for stretches to give opposing wing players something to think about besides what exact spot on the floor they'd like to hit their next shot from.

[Ben]

what a typical raptors game. and typical raptor fans as well. someone's always got to be singled out and blamed. as bad as moon was down the streach there was plenty of blame to go around. there were very costly turnovers from both ukic and bosh down the streach that were just as bad as any missed assignment on defence. im not defending moon, he was terrible, but that was a raptors loss, and moon certainly isnt the only one to blame.

[mw]

time to blow it up.

It is time for BC to say no one is untouchable. Even his man crush Bargnani. This team will never be successful with Bosh and Bargs together. They are both natural at the 4 position. When Oneal is traded we will go back to being outrebounded every night because Bargs spend 80% of his team outside the 3 point line and bosh spends 60% of his time just inside the 3 point line. It will never work.

Everyone is excited Bargs is getting 20 points a night. Has anyone notice he always takes the most shots on the team? He always takes as many shots as he has points. Not a good ratio. Tonight 20 points on 8/20 shots. Bosh 22 points on 14 shots.

This team needs rebuilding. Sean Marion will not make any diference. We need a good draft pick. An American college draft pick. No more Euro rejects. Enough already.

Forget this year. Try to rebuild for 2010. And remember Bargs is not the answer. BC needs to let that go

[Penny]

Watched a small part of the Suns/Celtics game last night and was amazed at the different calls or lack thereof that Boston gets from the refs compared to the Raptors - example Nash tries that create contact and hoist up an unmakeable shot against Rondo that he tried against Roko. Result - in Toronto he gets 3 foul shots - in Boston, it's a bad missed shot because there is no foul called. Garnett yaps at the refs after every call against him and no techs are called - Bargnani gets a tech for the same thing? Come on - Bargnani? - he hardly ever says a word to the refs.

[Yogi]

There are obviously limits to what a top flight sports psychologist could achieve, but why wouldn't the team give it a shot? As Yogi Berra said, 'half the game is 90% mental.' Here are two basic psychological facts:

1) We can change our thinking
2) Thinking affects our actions and emotional state

The team's annual player salary is over $70 million dollars, so why wouldn't it make sense to invest a little in one of the most important success factors: the way they think?

[Jim Rootham]

It really isn't reasonable to assume that Moon's playing skills have not been damaged by his career arc. Especially the pump fake issue. That's a subconscious decision that's made in milliseconds. It's really hard to change reactions that take place at that level. Playing on the Globetrotters isn't good prep for not biting on NBA level pump fakes.

As far as driving for the basket is concerned, Moon is not strong at dribbling in NBA level traffic, and his confidence is even weaker. Last year he could take people by surprise, this year the league has adjusted. If he does get his confidence up he will play better.

He needs real confidence, as opposed to defensiveness about errors. How he actually responds to being yelled at will be an interesting point.

[Ryan]

Doug I can see why you'd rather have a guy that could play 30-35 games than a guy who wouldn't, but you should consider the fact that Banks would also be in the Marion deal, and his contract would be a drag (even at 4.5 million). Is it really worth renting Marion and then having to pay another guy 4.5 million to sit on the bench for 2 more years?

I don't think so. Trading for Marbury though may not be the worst idea out there, if he's cut instantly. JO is never going to be healthy, especially with his training regiment, so why not get some cap space this year and see what can be done via free agency and the draft? I see no benefit of keeping JO around, and I am guessing there will be less teams talking themselves into believing he can stay healthy also.

[Jamie Buckingham]

I do not agree at all that it is not his fault (Moon) that he is the getting so much playing time. Answer this, Doug, if you were getting the go ahead from your work to do all the Raps coverage, and you came up lame almost everytime you wrote an article or covered the game. Do you honsetly think your work would allow you to continue through, becuase "it isn't you fault they hired you"? Your response is BS - Moon is accountable, period. When he sat down with his agent asking for that contract - I'm certian his agent sold BC on why it is a good deal to sign him and what he can bring to the team. I'm sure his agent didn't say, "Moon will bring no basketball IQ, he will bring no D, he will bring no
sense as when to shoot and when to drive, so if you sign and play him, it is you "Toronto Raptors" that needs to be held accountable when he fails, not Moon.....Do we we have deal Brian?". Do you think the Raps would have signed him?...No! He was signed, cause he shown (briefly) and was sold by his agent that he is worth the signing - Now he brings nothing and want the coaches and the organization to reep all the blame!??!.
This is a joke, the individual and only the individual should hold themselves accountable. Your comment allows "sports" poeple, like Moon to be and act like pre-madonna's. For me and you at our jobs, we would get fired with that attitude and effort, so why is it different for Moon??

Blogger's note: This is two in a day, you must really, really hate Jamario Moon. At least this doesn't include any glaring factual errors

[Tunacanpeen]

Does anyone remember all of the criticism lumped onto Kevin Garnett over the years? Predominately it has been said that he is a great player for 3 quarters and but is not the person you want to have the ball in their hands for the last shot.

Apart from Duncan (because of his bank-shot) and Nowitzki I cannot think of many PFs who are able to take that last shot (though you can say that LeBron is lining up as PF a lot this year). It's more the nature of the position than it is the player - you can also say that Duncan/Nowitzki are not prototypical PFs.

Buzzer killers normally come from the perimeter players who can create their own shot (see Chris Paul last week, He-who-shall-not-be-named for most of his career)

[DS]

Bargnani isn't very good at shooting with a hand in his face or breaking down anyone off the dribble except a lumbering big man; his role on last-second shots should be limited to broken plays or as the recipient on a drive-and-kick. Of course, we have nobody who can accomplish the "drive" part...

[Jamie Buckingham]

Moon is one of those people who had nothing, was going no where in the basketball industry for a reason....he was no good! Sam had a soft spot for him, cause Sam was one of those guys who skills lacked when he was playing earlier in his career so he was often left out. Sam played hard everyday and over came that perception - so he saw this in Moon and gave him the same opportunity that Sam worked so hard for.
If Moon was in any other industry and failed as often (Sales, fireman, policeman) he would have never gotten a chance like the one Sam gave him. No business owner in thier right mind would have hired him or anybody with his industry history. And if they did, and that person hired shown after a while he could not cut it, he would have been fired! Moon is just happy to walk away a millionaire even if he never plays in the NBA again - he is better off today then he was 18 months ago (which was poor). This is all that he cares about - he has no heart or pride. He is happy to not be living in poverty like he was before Sam gave him a chance! It is pathetic!.

Blogger's note: No heart or pride? Dead wrong. Happy to walk away a millionaire? Dead wrong. Makes $711,000 this year, made $400,000 last year and has no contract past this June. Is not "walking away a millionaire" by any stretch of anyone's imagination.

[TMF]

Doug,

Concerning your response to RS about trading O'Neal for Marion vs. Marbury/waive, I think you missed the point. Clearly, all other things being equal, it's more enticing to take the deal where someone gives you 30-35 games instead of someone who doesn't play. But in this case, the Marion option also saddles the team with the Banks contract for a couple years. That's a guy who doesn't play AND has to get paid over $4 million for two seasons. Since this season is pretty much lost, I'd much rather have the cap space than a rent-a-player and $9 million in totally useless salary commitment, wouldn't you?

[Peter]

Doug nobody likes losing Bosh at least cares Raptors need a creator on the wing some of these losses would be wins if we had that player.You have Bosh,Barg's and Jose as your core add say Josh Smith and a back up point Guard for J.O and things look better don't you think? Marion as a rental is okay too he will be hungry as it's a contract year.

[Marc in Burlington]

Doug,

About a year ago I remember you writing that Jamario was important to that team as it was then constituted as he provided a defensive, rebounding presence and was a guy who wasn't going to demand the ball a lot. Last year the impression I got was Jamario was a guy who was grateful for having the opportunity to play in the Association. It's gotta be a whole lot better riding a plane than riding a bus in the D-League.

Now we have a Jamario who was late coming to town this summer to get acquainted with the new felows: maybe it had something to do with leaving a pregnant wife -- I don't know; and a guy who acts like he's the second scoring option on the team. To my mind, there has been no obvious improvement in his skill. He's a terrible ball handler who insists on taking outside jumpers rather than taking it to the rim. He can't guard his own shadow, and his basketball IQ does not appear to be rising after a year and a half of starting.

What is the reason for this degeneration? Is this all laid at the feet of Jamario as a guy trying to "get his" in a contract year so that he can 'get his" at the table? Does Jamario not see that his actions are taking money off that table? Is this the coach's fault (Sam and Jay, but mostly Sam who allowed Moon to keep playing while developing these habits instead of showing him the bench treatment a la Graham. Jay's got the end product of that result and a short bench with all the injuries)

The remedy? What other choice is there but to keep him on this team, although buying him out and showing him the door would send a great messge to this team. I don't see Moon being included in any deal as salary ballast; he really doesn't add much there with his ticket. It's not as if I see anybody calling about the availability of his services, he'd be an 11-12 guy on a decent team, yet for the Raps he starts. Go figure.

After so much bad basketball in the early part of this decade, and then winning the Atlantic a couple of years ago, I was ready to watch this team come into its own. Now I'm sitting here amid all the negativity saying to myself, "I've seen this all before..." I am just waiting for Bosh to say he wants out, and that makes me sick to my stomach. Yet I understand why he'd want to leave. He's seen this all before too.

Deeply disappointed Doug. Not in the team. In my self. For I believed the worst was over.

[Chris S.]

Hey Doug, regarding your comment about seeing Bargs take the last shot, he did in Boston a few weeks ago and made it and yet Triano has not come back to him, why does Moon or Kapono keep getting these late shots? Bosh is being double teamed so go to Bargs, Moon shouldnt even be on the floor because he's bound to jack up an ill-advised 3 (and see nothing wrong with it) and Kapono should only get the ball if he is wide open on a catch and shoot, otherwise he's gonna travel. Is this Triano's fault or are they just not running the plays right?

Blogger's note: That play was not designed for Bargnani, it was a busted play that got scrambled and the ball ended up in his hands

[Peter]

Why exactly wouldn't Marbury play for us? Isn't he a better version of Will Solomon? I know he's probably the worst single locker room presence in the league, but wouldn't it at least make the games interesting? Really, Doug, think of all the added traffic on your blog. Think of the droves of people wanting to hear your latest crazy Marbury story for the day.

I think it would only improve basketball awareness in the city. In a funny way.

Also it's better than having Banks contract on the books.

[John]

Is the Marcus Banks' contract dump the real key to the deal for Miami, or would they be as agreeable to putting Jamal Magloire in the trade? His 1.2M expiring deal makes the deal work on the Trade Machine, and he's only getting 10 minutes with the Heat now, and that would go down when O'Neal arrives one would think. And we could use 10 backup minutes from him.

[JC]

Doug, this has been brought up over and over again. But you really need to find out for us why Jamario Moon insists on being a 3-point shooter more than anything else. We know he isn't great with dribbling and slashing, but many of us remember vividly his many cut-receive-and-dunk highlights (I also remember a great fake on Mourning (or some other big guy) along the baseline and then drove for a finger roll layup). Has the coaching staff not pointed this out to him?

[sg60]

I absolutely agree that Bargnani should be given a chance to take the final shot. How else is he going to learn and besides it's not like there's anything left to play for other than pride. Regarding Moon, he's an end of the bench player at best and the fact that he's starting for the Raps tells you what the state of the Raptors roster is.

One last comment. I am totally amazed at how well AP has played at the point. Given that he has hardly ever played this position, it's incredible how well he has done. Obviously there are some point guards who he would have a lot of trouble with but he's been one of the few bright spots lately.

[DaveInTO]

I can remember Andrea hitting more game tying/winning shots, then missing.
He does seem to hit big shots, I definitely think he should be getting the change to take more of them.

[Matt]

anything you have heard regarding JO for Marion i expected it to be announced today. Something needs to get done soon before we cant make the playoffs. Im losing faith in BC, i think hes doing a poor job and this season is now all on him. Hes waiting too long to address the wing position everyone knew it was a problem at the start of the season. Have you heard anything yet doug?

Blogger's note: No. And don't sit around waiting today, please

[Victor]

Yeah, it was a boneheaded couple of plays by Moon, but what can you expect from a guy that played everywhere he did in a sophmore year?

What you can expect is better from Bosh. I can't agree with your comment on how Bosh ends up getting the job to try and win the game because this is the SAME guy that said he wanted to win the MVP this year. Well, late game situations are a prime example of what an MVP is. Therefore, if he wants to be as good as he says he is, he's got to execute. An MVP is not all talk and no finish.

Moreover, I've always been against this whole calling out your teammates thing. Bosh rips Jamario for that blown defensive assignment. He rips Roko for not swinging the ball. Who rips Chris on his late game turnover? Who rips him when he gets blanketed by Garnett because he's too scared? Leadership starts from yourself, and the louder you bark the more vulnerable you look, especially if right after that you turn the ball over.